him what he wanted,
and he said that he wanted me, and that I had promised to marry him.'

'Ha!' said King Yellow-cap. 'And what did you say to that?'

'I was very indignant, Sire,' said the maiden, 'because I had that
very day promised to wed a young man of our own village, whom I had
known and loved for many years. But this ugly dwarf said, "You belong
to me; and to prove it, here is the other half of the spade guinea
that is hanging round your neck!" Now, Sire, when I parted with the
young man whom I love he had cut his spade guinea in two, and each of
us had kept half, for a sign by which, as he said, we might know each
other when we met, no matter what changes had come over us in the
meantime. So, when I saw the token in this dwarf's hand, I feared my
lover was dead, because I knew that no enchantment could make him look
like the dwarf, and I could not believe that he would have given up
his half of our spade guinea while he had life enough left to guard
it.'

'Might your lover not have given it up for something that seemed to
him more precious?' asked the young King in a tremulous voice.

'No,' said the maiden firmly, 'for he loved me, and nothing in this
world is so precious as love.'

'Go on with your story,' said the King.

'There is little more to tell, please your Majesty. I told the dwarf
to be gone; but he threw his arms round me and tried to carry me away.
Then I screamed out, and all the young men in the village ran up, and
there was a great fight. Then the dwarf said that he was the Lord High
Sheepstealer of England, and that he arrested us all for high treason.
So he bound us and tied veils over our faces, and brought us prisoners
to London; and this morning we were carried hither in this cart.'

'And what do you wish me to do for you?' asked the King.

'I do not much care what becomes of me, Sire,' replied the maiden,
'for I fear my lover is dead, and if he is, then all the love I had
for the world is dead with him. But if your Majesty would find out
whether he still lives and loves me I will thank you more than for my
life, and I will be content to die.'

'You shall have your wish,' said the King, 'though I fear your lover
is not worthy of you. But first your eyes shall be unveiled, and you
shall tell me whether, amidst this assembly, you can find the man who
called himself the Lord High Sheepstealer of England.'

And now a wonderful thing happened.

When the six courtiers, in their whit